Background Many statistical methods are available to model longitudinal growth data and relate derived summary measures to later outcomes. Aim To apply and compare commonly used methods to a realistic scenario including pre- and postnatal data, missing data and confounders. Subjects and methods Data were collected from 753 offspring in the Southampton Women's Survey with measurements of bone mineral content (BMC) at age 6 years. Ultrasound measures included crown-rump length (11 weeks' gestation) and femur length (19 and 34 weeks' gestation); postnatally, infant length (birth, 6 and 12 months) and height (2 and 3 years) were measured...

BACKGROUND: Obesity is considered a risk factor for both asthma and insulin resistance in adults. Insulin resistance (IR) also influences pulmonary function in the non-obese population. AIM: To investigate the modifying effect of insulin resistance on the predictive role of anthropometric measures in the estimation of impaired lung function among asthmatic adults. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 1276 adults extracted from the NHANES 2009-2012 database was performed...

BACKGROUND: Growth in tibia length is considered to be particularly sensitive to environmental stress. AIM: To estimate the effect of parental migration status on relative length of tibia in their school-age children. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Data included nationwide random sample of 17,155 schoolchildren 7-18 years of age examined between 1966 and 1969 in Poland who provided information on anthropometric measurements and demographic and social characteristics...

BACKGROUND: The development of gross motor coordination (GMC) is governed by biological and environmental factors whose effect sizes are still unclear. AIM: To investigate sibling resemblance in GMC as well as biological and environmental correlates of GMC among Peruvian children. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The sample comprised 1256 biological siblings (6-15 years), from three geographical areas of Peru. GMC was assessed using the Korperkoordinationtest für Kinder (KTK) test battery...

BACKGROUND: New commercial STR kits have emerged with greater numbers of markers which allows for obtaining stronger conclusions in forensic casework, which has been poorly studied in Mexico. AIM: To obtain forensic parameters and to analyse the genetic relationships, structure, and admixture in seven geographic regions of Guerrero state (South, Mexico) based on the Globalfiler® kit. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 245 unrelated Mexican individuals from seven regions of the state of Guerrero were analysed with the Globalfiler® kit...

BACKGROUND: Rapidly mutating (RM) Y-STRs recently emerged as a useful genotyping tool that can counteract problems normally associated with traditional Y-STRs. For instance, RM Y-STRs have the potential to differentiate Y-chromosomes from both close and distant paternal relatives. AIM: Characterisation of 13 RM Y-STR loci in a new sample pool from Turkey in terms of population genetic data and mutation rates. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 100 father-son pairs from South and East Turkey were genotyped...

BACKGROUND: Genetic variation in glucuronosyltransferases (UGT) is crucial in drug metabolism and risk of some diseases Aim: To examine genetic variation in glucuronosyltransferases (UGT)in North African populations. SUBJECTS & METHODS: Allele frequencies of SNPs UGT1A424Thr , UGT1A448Val , UGT2B1585Tyr , UGT2B15523Thr and UGT2B17 CNV deletion from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya were compared to European and Sub-Saharan populations. RESULTS: North Africans are the group with the highest genetic heterogeneity given by internal differences in the occurrence of UGT2B17 deletion, UGT1A448Val and UGT1A4 haplotypes...

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of cardio-metabolic diseases (CMD) is drastically increasing world-wide. Anthropometric measures of fat accumulation are correlated with CMD and Metabolic Syndrome (MS), but few studies have addressed this association in sub-Saharan African populations. AIM: To investigate the association between anthropometric features, MS and other CMD risk factors in a population from Kenya. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study including 1,405 Kenyans, anthropometric measurements including visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) were carried out...

BACKGROUND: The association of the variant rs6265 (G > A) in the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene with obesity and other obesity-related parameters is not known for the Pakistani population. Moreover, the effects of interaction between BDNF rs6265 and overweight/obesity on obesity-related traits have never been investigated before. AIM: To find the association of the BDNF rs6265 with obesity and related traits and to explore the effect of rs6265 × obesity interaction on obesity-related traits in Pakistanis...

This survey reports the mitochondrial data of two Spanish populations living in the Vera and Bejar valleys, on the opposite slopes of the Sierra de Gredos (Central Spain), which crosses Spain east to west. The aim of the study was to characterise the mitochondrial genetic pool of the Vera and Bejar populations to investigate a putative mitogenetic differentiation between them, evidence that would support the role of the Sierra de Gredos as a genetic barrier in their micro-evolutionary histories. Blood samples of 137 people (66 from Vera and 71 from Bejar) were collected and mtDNA hypervariable regions I and II (HVR-I and HVR-II) were dissected along with several mtDNA- coding region SNPs...

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of overweight and obesity doubles between adolescence and young adulthood. However, the exact age, and appropriate metric to use, to identify when overweight develops is still debated. AIM: To examine the age of onset of overweight by sex and four metrics: body mass index (BMI), fat mass (%FM), waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Between 1991 and 2017, serial measures of body composition, were taken on 237 (108 males) individuals (aged 8 to 40 years of age)...

CONTEXT: Sleep has been assessed as a risk factor for health consequences. Among adults, excessively longer and shorter sleep durations are associated with high blood pressure (BP), but knowledge of the association between sleep duration and high BP among adolescents is limited. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the associations between sleep duration and high BP in adolescents. METHODS: PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases were searched for eligible publications through November 20, 2017...

The purpose of the study was to model the longitudinal development of knee extension (KE) and flexion (KF) strength in adolescent soccer players. A mixed-longitudinal sample composed of 67 soccer players aged 11.0-13.9 years at baseline was followed on three-to-five occasions over 5 years. Stature, body mass and several skinfold thicknesses were measured. Fat mass was estimated from skinfolds and fat-free mass (FFM) derived. Skeletal age was estimated with the TW2-RUS protocol. An isokinetic dynamometer was used to obtain peak torque of KE and KF from concentric assessments at an angular velocity of 180°/s...

BACKGROUND: There is a renewed interest in longitudinal studies which link children's growth, motor and cognition development. This is important for both educational outcomes and identification of children who are at risk. AIM: To identify cross-sectional sex-differences. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: In total, 1166 Portuguese children, aged 4-11 years, were recruited into the Growth, Motor Development and Cognition Study (GMDC-Vouzela study). Measures included: anthropometry, gestational development, motor coordination, cognitive performance, laterality, physical fitness, metabolic syndrome risk, lifestyle characteristics and environmental exposures...

BACKGROUND: Genetic and environmental influences on anthropometric measures can be investigated by comparing dizygotic (DZ) versus monozygotic (MZ) twins. Investigating cohorts living in different geographical areas across the globe can identify the variation in heritability versus environment. AIM: 1) To investigate the association between birth weight and anthropometric measurements during adulthood; 2) to study the genetic and environmental influences on body measures including birth weight, weight, and height among twins; and 3) to assess the variation in heritability versus environment among two cohorts of twins who lived in different geographical areas...

BACKGROUND: Maternal smoking during pregnancy has been recognised as a detrimental factor associated with adverse perinatal outcomes; however, to date there is a dearth of information on how it affects post-natal head growth and shape. AIM: To assess the relationship between parental smoking exposure during pregnancy and head dimensions and shape at age 7-10 years in boys and girls. METHODS: Body height and head length, breadth and circumference were measured...

BACKGROUND: Comparisons of physical fitness in normal weight and overweight/obese youth generally highlight the negative consequences of an elevated BMI. In contrast, several studies of children and adolescents highlight the importance of variation in indicators of physical fitness across the full spectrum of BMIs from low through high. AIM: The purpose of the study was to evaluate relationships between specific physical fitness items and the BMI among youth. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Height, weight and six physical fitness tests were measured in 1239 males and 903 females, aged 13-16 years; BMI (kg/m2 ) was calculated...

BACKGROUND: Early-life growth dynamics are associated with future health. Little is known regarding timing and magnitude of the infancy body mass index (BMI) peak with adiposity and metabolic biomarkers during adolescence. AIM: To examine associations of the infancy BMI peak with anthropometry and cardiometabolic risk during peripuberty. METHODS: Among 163 ELEMENT participants, this study estimated age and magnitude of the infancy BMI peak from eight anthropometric measurements from birth-36 months using Newton's Growth Models, an acceleration-based process model...